Historic Markers: Jamaica Plain

The home of Emily Greene Balch (1867-1961) stood at this site. She shared
the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946 for her service on behalf of world peace
and women's suffrage, the first Bostonian to achieve that honor. She founded
Denison House, a settlement house for women, in the South End, and also
started, with Jane Addams, the Women's International League for Peace.
Boston Women's Heritage Trail

Dole Family Home - 14 Roanoke Ave.

The Rev. Charles Fletcher Dole (1845-1927) served for more than forty
years as pastor of the First Unitarian Church in Jamaica Plain. His work
for peace and free speech influenced Nobel Peace Prize winner Emily Balch.
His son, James Drummond Dole (1877-1958), studied agriculture at Harvard's
Bussey Institute (now the Arnold Arboretum). He traveled to the Sandwich
Islands in 1901, where he is credited with establishing the Hawaiian pineapple
industry.

In 1870 Ellen Swallow Richards (1842-1911) was the first woman admitted
to MIT. She was a woman pioneer in scientific education, and was one of
the founders of the American Association of University Women. Her varied
career included early studies in urban sanitation and industrial chemistry.
She applied scientific inquiry to problems of daily home life, and is
credited with starting the home economics movement in America. Boston
Women's Heritage Trail

Jamaica Plain Neighborhood House - 276 Amory St.

This 1890s clubhouse has significant historical associations with Jamaica Plain's late 19th and early 20th century history. In 1899 an unusual façade of Renaissance Revival/Neo-Adamesque style was added, probably designed by Jamaica Plain carpenter John Albrecht, president of a German music club housed here at the time. Its most important period began in 1919 when it was purchased by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood House Association, which provided vocational training, English classes and after school programs here until the building was sold in the 1990s.

James Michael Curley House - 350 The Jamaicaway*

For more than 40 years this was the home of four-term mayor, Massachusetts
Governor and U.S. Congressman James Michael Curley (1874-1958). The window
shutters' shamrock cutouts proclaim his Irish heritage. The house was
designed by Joseph McGinnis in 1915. In 1988 the George Robert White Fund
purchased the house for the enjoyment of the people of Boston.

Footlight Club - Eliot and Centre Sts.

A center of the Jamaica Plain community for more than a century, the Footlight
Club was founded in 1877 to "furnish pleasant and useful entertainment
by the aid of drama." In 1878 the Footlight Club moved to Eliot Hall,
where it continues to perform as the oldest community theater company
in the United States.

Haffenreffer Brewery - 31 Germania St.

Founded in 1871 by Rudolf Haffenreffer, this was one of the many breweries
to locate along the Stony Brook after 1850. Attracted by the fresh water
and open land, such large-scale brewers built a major industry from the
ale-making traditions of English and German settlers. The main complex
was built between 1877 and 1884. The tall buildings reflect the vertical
system of brewing first used here, with the hops hoisted to the rooftop
and descending through the process. Closed in 1965, the complex was later
adopted by the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corp. for use as
a small business center.

Loring-Greenough House - 12 South St.*

Home to five generations of the prominent Greenough family, this fine
mid-Georgian mansion was originally built in 1760 for Joshua Loring, a
wealthy officer of the British Navy. During the American Revolution, the
house was confiscated by Continental forces. It served as headquarters
for Gen. Nathaniel Greene and then as a hospital. Loring and his family
were among the British to evacuate Boston in 1776. The Loring-Greenough
House is the last of the many country estates maintained in Jamaica Plain
in the 18th century. In 1924, the house was rescued by the Jamaica Plain
Tuesday Club.

Maud Cuney Hare - 43 Sheridan St.

Maud Cuney Hare, a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and the foremost historian of black music of her time, lived here from 1904 unitl 1934. Hare's most notable achievement was Negro Musicians and Their Music, a comprehensive survey of black music published in 1936; she also authored Creole Songs and served as book editor for the NAACP magazine, Crisis. A well-known folklorist, Hare traveled internationally and collected musical instruments and songs for her work in musicology.
Boston Women's Heritage Trail

Mother Mary Rogers - 20 Robinwood Ave.

Built in the 1840s by Boston merchant Kilby Page, this high-style Greek Revival residence was the childhood home of Mother Mary Joseph Rogers (1882-1955), who founded the Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic in 1921. This was the first group of Catholic sisters in the United States to commit to lives of service overseas. They are devoted to aiding people in developing nations and base their lives on the belief that justice, peace, and love can be a way of life. Rogers served as Mother General of the Sisters for over 20 years, building a democratic community of women with professional skills dedicated to helping others.
Boston Women's Heritage Trail